DICE - MFD failure, and clicks

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(knowledgeseeker @ May 10 2007, 12:39 AM) [snapback]438837[/snapback]</div>

hahaha, sorry to laugh but the clicking in audio and the degraded quality of sound is why i returned my unit and went with a Vais Tech SLI and I am very happy. Sound and speech are excellent.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(knowledgeseeker @ May 9 2007, 09:39 PM) [snapback]438837[/snapback]</div>

Can you send me the audio file, I'd like to try it out myself.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusFTW @ May 10 2007, 05:38 AM) [snapback]438983[/snapback]</div>

We use a higher range of sound than VIAS. Your amp in the car couldn't keep up. Now, the kit can adjust itself. That's why you had the popping sound.

 

This is an amazing coincidence. On Tuesday, 8 May 2007, I took my 2005 to the dealer because of an MFD failure – no outside Temp, no instantaneous MPG, "Unit not connected" message when trying to operate the AC – all the observed failure modes. I even pulled the TSB for the dealer since it's an early 2005. I noticed on the short drive to the dealer I had no instantaneous MPG but three bars of 100 MPG on the graph, which is just impossible first thing in the morning on my route.

The dealer took the car back to check it wasn't a pin problem (as noted on the TSB) and after a half hour came out to say my MFD was not covered by the TSB and they would need a couple of hours to pull the MFD and check it completely. I had a dentist appointment, so I said I'd call to make an appointment to bring it back.

On the drive over to the dentist I vaguely recalled a mention here on PC about a DICE iPod unit messing with the MFD. I got there 15 minutes early, so I pulled the cable from the DICE unit and started the car again. The MFD worked fine – I could change screens, control the AC, etc., so I plugged the DICE unit back in. Everything continued to work fine and still does.

I, too, have some scratchy noise in the driver door speaker. I hadn't heard this problem associated with the DICE iPod unit. Since my wife drives the 2005 now, and never uses her iPod in the car, I may just take out the DICE iPod unit. This is the second one I've had. I guess it's good to mount it in an accessible location.

 

I can't seem to quote and reply.... The DICE can cause the MFD to crash, thankfully it's no more often than any other device that's plugged in. The VIAS does it, Sat modules does it, etc etc Since I've had my Prius, it's crashed on me 2x. Once with the DICE + Sirius module, and once with just the Sirius plugged in. Both of these happened over a year ago. I could tell you exactly why it does it too, and why the 06/07's have a far less chance of doing it as well.

Pulling an module doesn't necessarily mean it was the kit either, when you pull something from the BUS the computer resets all connections. The only way to know for sure is to monitor the MFD when the crash occurred. I'm working on a way to make my laptop constantly record the car's BUS data. A day's worth of data is like 3-4 gigs! For something like this, you only need like the first 30 seconds of the car booting up though.

If you want to send me the files, you can do the yousendit or I can give you access to my FTP server - you can send me as many as you want and I'll listen to em and we'll compare notes on what track does what when you get yours reinstalled.

 

:blink:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(knowledgeseeker @ May 17 2007, 04:38 PM) [snapback]444498[/snapback]</div>

Sounds good to me!

 

Boy, am I relieved. This morning, I got in my car and had the dreaded "MFD Failure". No audio, no AC, etc. All the way to work, I has bells ringing in my head to the tune of $4000. Decided to look here in the hope that Toyota is giving us a break on the replacement cost. Lo and behold, I find these threads regarding the DICE unit.

Just ran out to the car and unplugged the DICE (at the DICE, not at the head unit), rebooted, and everything's fine. plugged the DICE back in and it's still OK.

BTW - I still have an original beta DICE unit and this is only the second time I've ever had to unplug the unit (the first time was about a year ago when the IPod froze). Does anyone (Vagabond?) know if the DICE/MFD issues would be less likely to reoccur if I traded in the beta unit for one with up-to-date firmware?

Thanks PC!!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dgstan @ Jul 26 2007, 11:01 AM) [snapback]485568[/snapback]</div>

Yup, it would. You wanna PM me your address and contact info?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vagabond @ Jul 26 2007, 11:05 AM) [snapback]485570[/snapback]</div>

PM sent.

Thanks.